Why does India fail to protect the domestic worker despite decades of abuse

Smitha (not her real name), the local assistant in Delhi for 28 years, cannot forget the day she was beaten in public places by an employer.

The woman accused Smitha – a Dalit woman who was the most distinctive against the class in the firm social hierarchy of Hinduism – to steal her daughter’s earrings and then refused to pay her.

“After many requests, I faced it in public places,” Smithta says.

It was eventually salaries – 1000 rupees ($ 11; 9 pounds) for a month of sweeping and armed dishes and washing – after a more sympathetic family interfered on its behalf. But she was banned from entering the housing community and did not care to go to the police because she believed that she will not take action.

Smithta story One of the hundreds of thousands of accounts Of ill -treatment, abuse and sexual abuse reported by home workers in India. Most of them are women and many immigrants inside the country, who belong to the classes that are seen.

Last month, the Supreme Court in India raised concerns about its exploitation and asked the federal government to consider the establishment of a law to protect them from abuse.

But this is not the first time that an attempt to create such a legal framework has been made. Despite the years of invitation by various groups and federal ministries, such a law has not been approved.

Separate bills were not approved in 2008 and 2016, which aim to register workers on homes and improve their working conditions. A national policy made in 2019, which aims to include home workers under the current labor laws.

Sonia George of the Association of Women working for their self -account (SEWA), which was part of the business group that formulated the draft policy, called one of the “most comprehensive policies for home workers” so far, but it says that successive governments have failed to implement it.

As a result, the wide India army of home assistants must rely on the fame of the employer to obtain basics such as wages, departure, or even the basis line of respect. According to official statistics, India owns 4.75 million workers, including three million women. But the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that the real numbers range from 20 and 80 million.

“We have a relationship known for help and not a business relationship,” says Professor Netha N of the Women’s Development Studies Center.

“This preserves the current situation, and it is one of the biggest obstacles to organizing and giving legitimacy to domestic work.”

Since things do not consider private homes an institution or workplace, so domestic action is outside the scope of social protection such as the minimum wage, the right to safe working conditions, the right to union union and access to social security plans.

At least 14 Indian states, including Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Megagistan, Rajstistan and Tamil Nadu, have imposed the minimum wage for home workers and some federal laws, such as harassment of sexual anti -sexes and child labor laws. Their scope.

But there is little awareness among home workers that they can benefit from these provisions, says Ms. George, adding that the nature of the profession also constitutes challenges.

Workers are scattered and there is no mechanism for registration or even identifying them because they do not generally sign any type of contract with their employers.

“We will need to create systems to register a home worker – to overcome their” hidden “a big step towards organizing the profession,” she says.

This applies to employers as well. “They are completely not fully visible in the system, and thus escapes accountability and responsibility,” says George.

The class system also offers more complications – workers from some denominations may agree to clean the toilets at home while others may not be from the different layers.

Ultimately, the full concept of domestic action must be redefined, says Ms. George. “Home action is a non -skilled work, but this is not in fact. You cannot take care of a sick person or cook a meal without being skilled.”

In addition to the failure to pass its own laws or implement its own policy, India also did not believe the International Labor Organization Agreement 189 – an international teacher agreement aimed at ensuring that home workers enjoy the same rights and protection as other workers. Despite voting in favor of the agreement in 2011, India is not yet compatible with all its provisions.

Mrs. George says that India has a “moral commitment” in line with the International Labor Organization Agreement. She adds that the existence of a law will also help regulate private employment agencies and prevent the exploitation of a home worker who goes abroad to work.

Last year, the Al -Handa family topped the headlines after the Swiss court convicted them of exploiting their workers in the home. Family accused Trafficking The weak Indians to Switzerland and forcing them To work in their palace for long hours painfully without the appropriate wages. Family lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

Perhaps the simplest interpretation of decades of failure to work in the face of violations of violations lies in the conflict of interests that such organization puts on decision makers in India, as Ms. George notes.

“At the end of the day, the people on the table who have the ability to sign a draft law or law are also employers for home workers and people who benefit from the current situation,” she says. “Therefore, for any real change in the system, we first need a change in our mindset.”

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